A Twister of Fate
by ElphabaTheLimitless
Summary: Your classic Frozen/Wicked crossover. While fleeing from the Gale Force, Elphaba happens upon Elsa's ice palace, and the two become unlikely allies.Wicked booksical, eventual AU.
1. Chapter 1

The sky was clear and blue, unmarred with heavy clouds. Still, snowflakes appeared seemingly out of nowhere and continued to coat the land in soft white. Even as she inwardly grimaced at the endless, colorless scape, Elsa had to admire the beauty of the winter.

_Her _winter.

She stretched out an alabaster hand and caught a falling clump of snowflakes. She marveled at the feeling. It was soft and wet, but she didn't feel the cold, dressed even as she was in nothing but a shimmering, sleeveless gown.

_Let the storm rage on._

She suddenly whirled on her heel and retreated into her palace, sculpted ever so carefully by swirls of magic.

_The cold never bothered me anyway._

She supposed it might be lonely, living in a lonely castle with no company but her ice and snow, but she had vowed to leave it all behind, and she would. No regrets, and no thoughts of the past.

She wouldn't think of how her power always seemed to fail her at the last moment, how it ended up as more of a danger to everyone she came in contact with. She wouldn't think of the undisguised shock on Anna's face as the girl discovered what her sister was capable of; she wouldn't even think of Anna at all, if she could help it.

Instead, she would focus on the exhilarating sensation of freedom granted so suddenly to her, as she had never experienced before. She would revel of the raw magic pouring out of her fingertips, able to control it, as she never had been before.

_Finally, I'm free._

* * *

She soared above the tree line, momentarily grateful that there wasn't a cloud in sight to mar her vision. The wind whipped at her cloak and dress, and again she was thankful, this time that she had thought to keep her hair in a tight bun instead of left loose.

However, once she steadied the broom, Elphaba realized something.

She had nowhere to go.

The escape from the Emerald Palace's attic had been thrilling, but where was she to go? Not back to Shiz, that was certain. And Frexspar would never welcome her in Munchkinland. That left the Vinkus, to the west, Gillikin, to the north, or perhaps Quadling country, all the way to the south. None of them sounded all that desirable.

But she had to stay somewhere. Somewhere far from any vengeful Gale Force officers, or anyone who may recognize her.

_And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free…_

It had sounded to glorious at the time, but she was beginning to realize that she had signed herself up for a fairly lonely life…and one without a purpose.

For who would help her, the _Wicked_ Witch, to fight the _Wonderful _Wizard and his laws? And it was certain that, alone, she would be of no use to her cause. After all, she was only one woman, and one person, even with a knack for spells such as hers, could hardly lead a revolution. She had no friends anymore, and certainly no allies, except for the few Animals who hadn't already been taken captive or killed.

It was hardly an army.

But she couldn't turn back. To turn back was to give up, to accept that her goals were impossible. If she turned back, the Wizard would win, and never again would someone challenge his authority. And no matter how hopeless it all seemed, Elphaba could not let that happen. So she would persevere.

_And nobody in all of Oz, no Wizard that there is, or was, is ever gonna bring me down!_

'Perhaps,' she thought, as a new idea, a crazy sort of solution, entered her head, 'Perhaps, I could leave Oz. Just for a little while. I could find myself allies who have never heard of the Great and Wonderful Wizard of Oz, or the infamous Wicked Witch.'

'Perhaps I could actually win this.'

With that, she urged her broomstick forward and sped west towards the horizon, far west, past the Vinkus.

Elphaba drew her dark cloak closer around her as the wind picked up. The farther she got, the more of a chill the air seemed to carry. But she continued, unhampered by such a trivial obstacle as the forces of nature. She _had _to get out of Oz _tonight. _If she stopped before then, the Gale Force would be able to scout her out easily in the flat grasslands.

Not for the first time, she doubted her decisions. Had she been too hasty in deciding to leave Oz? Should she have gone in a different direction, where trees or mountains could shield her?

But she had made her decision, and let it be said that Elphaba Melena Thropp would never go back on her choices without a fight. So again she continued, and the wind seemed to be on her side, giving her a sharp nudge from behind every time she dared to slow.

When a stinging layer of cold settled on her skin, Elphaba finally slowed. Frosty swirls of silver and white formed lacy patterns on the worn wood of her broomstick. And that wasn't all.

'Snow?'

Even up hundreds of feet in the air, on the brink of nightfall, it was much too early in the season for snow. 'For Lurline's sake, it's still summer!' she puzzled. How could there be _snow? _

Her eyes were drawn to the steeply sloped ground at the base of suddenly-formed mountains. The ground, which was covered with at least a foot of freshly-fallen, powdery snow.

'What in Oz-?'

* * *

Elsa had grown so accustomed to the unbroken sound of the snow and wind that when she heard footsteps, they startled her badly, and several gleaming icicles formed a sort of defensive ring. She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes, willing the ice to retreat, but she only succeeded in causing a layer of frost to form on them.

'I suppose I'll need to practice a bit before I expect to be able to control what I do…'

She raised a hand and willed a small flurry to form.

The moment a concentrated cloud of snowflakes formed, she tried to make it disappear, but it did nothing. Frustrated, she balled her hand into a fist. "_Disappear,_" she hissed. To her surprise, the flurry disintegrated, leaving no evidence of its existence.

So satisfied was she that she forgot the original reason of her shock until something - or _someone _-knocked sharply on the great blue gates of her palace. She waved her hand and the doors swung open.

It seemed to be…a woman? But…

'That's not possible,' Elsa thought quite certainly. 'I must be imagining things.'

The woman was…green?

* * *

Elphaba prayed to Oz that there was no one inhabiting the castle. When she had seen it on the horizon, sharply outlined in arctic blue against a darkening sky, she had gratefully hastened towards it. The snow was now stinging pinpricks of melting water against her skin. She now had another reason to get out of Oz as soon as possible. If she were to fall asleep among all this snow, the warmth of her body heat would melt all the snow surrounding her…and once that snow turned to liquid water, it wouldn't be the only melted thing around. It would be like sleeping in a pool of acid.

She grimaced harshly at the mere thought.

When no one answered her knock immediately, Elphaba grinned. Maybe it _was _abandoned, after all. It would be just _lovely _to be able to stay in this strange palace without anyone screaming or calling the guards. Broomstick held in one hand, she raised the other to push the doors open. However, before she could, they shifted and then opened of their own accord. Now, _that _confused her. Was the castle enchanted?

She found her answer in the sight of a woman, perhaps a few years younger than she herself, wearing a dress made entirely of _shimmering turquoise snowflakes. _It trailed delicately behind her, fluttering in a nonexistent wind.

Such a dress defied the laws of physics. If her first observation was correct, the thin layer of ice should have melted the moment it touched her bare shoulders.

Besides, there was then the question of how the dress had been formed. No sculpture could have possibly made such a finely carved, delicate fabric out of ice, let alone one that moved as freely at silk and didn't seem to melt.

Defeated by the possibility of this extraordinary feat of nature, Elphaba shifted her gaze to examine the girl herself- for yes; she was still young enough to perhaps be called a mere girl.

She, the girl, had a delicate bone structure, and soft, mild features. Her skin was pale, to the point that it nearly matched the snow still drifting outside. Her platinum hair hung in a loose braid, studded with glittery snowflakes. Her eyes were wide and clear and blue as she observed Elphaba, unabashedly staring.

The older woman averted her gaze to the floor, feeling self-conscious. _Of course_ she would be stared at. She was_ green, _not to mention her nearly instant notoriety throughout Oz.

She would like to pretend it didn't bother her, but of course, it did.

**A/N: Hello, lovely readers! This is my first story on this profile. My other one is mostly for Warriors fanfiction, and this one for Wicked and stuff.**

**I just **_**love **_**Wicked/Frozen crossovers… But there are so many incomplete ones! So I took it upon myself to remedy that. And if, at first, this seems very similar to other Wicked/Frozen crossovers, that's because it is. They all seem to start the same way, but I promise you that the similarity won't last. This'll go in its own direction, don't worry!**

**And I **_**adore**_** reviews! *****Hint hint*******


	2. Chapter 2

Green. She was _green_. Green as grass, green as emerald, green as sin…

As green as Elsa's snow was white.

But _how_?

The woman – the _green _woman – who shifted rather uncomfortably under Elsa's unblinking stare (it vaguely dawned on Elsa that she was being rather rude), had sharp, pointed features. The angles of her face were just a bit too sharp to be considered pretty. Her hair was dark and tied back, tucked under an odd-looking, pointed hat that, as unflattering as it may have been, seemed to strangely suit the woman.

Her eyes were twin pools of darkness, and Elsa was grateful that the woman now seemed interested in the floor. To feel those eyes staring at _her… _It would be terrifying.

Although Elsa already felt rather scared. The woman made an intimidating figure, draped in ebony and standing tall and green. She carried a sort of dignity fit for a queen – a dignity that Elsa could only hope to achieve in her lifetime.

And though Elsa was certain that she could sufficiently defend herself using her power, she took an instinctive and fearful step back.

At her movement, the woman flicked her eyes back up to meet Elsa's. The young queen stepped back again, trembling, then stopped herself. She wouldn't show fear – she _couldn't_.

"What are you doing here?" She wished her voice would come out as strong and commanding as she envisioned it, but instead it shook with the rest of her.

The woman looked almost taken aback. "I–," she began. "I _was_ looking for shelter. For a place to stay for the night to escape the snow." To accompany her words, she held out an arm that was just as green as the rest of her. Even from her distance, Elsa could see the painful-looking red flecks on the otherwise unmarred skin. 'Burn marks?' she wondered.

The woman's face looked pained. "Water – it doesn't have the best reaction on my skin, I'm afraid."

Her _snow _did this? Elsa felt unexplainably guilty. If she could manage to summon the control to lift the blizzard that surrounded her palace, she would have, but as it was, she only winced in sympathy. "I'm sorry." The words felt hollow and weak. "But…you can stay for a night, if you'd like. I have room."

Where had that come from? Had she really just offered lodging to a woman who, moments before, had frightened her beyond measure?

Again, the woman had this faintly surprised air about her, as though she hadn't expected such an offer. Then again, Elsa hadn't expected to offer it either.

"I – thank you," she said. "That would be very kind. I won't be trouble." She looked as though she nearly said more, but she merely looked at Elsa, a slow, appraising look that again made the Snow Queen wonder what she had been thinking moments before.

"If I may ask," the woman added sharply after a moment of tense silence, "Who are you?"

Elsa was, quite simply, shocked. She was sure that stories of the Snow Queen, the ruler with a frozen heart, would have spread across Arendelle with as quickly as messengers could travel. She wasn't sure whether to be apprehensive or relieved that this woman seemed not to recognize her, though, with her gown of ice, not to mention the _ice palace _they were currently standing in, she thought that it would be obvious.

"I'm Elsa," she said hesitantly. "Queen Elsa of Arendelle." If the woman _still _didn't recognize her as the Snow Queen, she wouldn't be the one to tell her. Best not drive away the only company she'd had in weeks. "And… Who are you?"

* * *

'Who am I?'

Elphaba let out a harsh cackle, and the girl – Elsa, her name was – took a third step back.

There wasn't a single citizen in all of Oz who hadn't heard of the Wicked Witch of the West and learned to recognize her on sight.

'Which means,' Elphaba concluded with uncharacteristic delight, 'I can't still be in Oz. I must have crossed the border without realizing it.'

"I'm… Elphaba. My name is Elphaba." What Elsa didn't know wouldn't hurt her. And she had been offered a place to stay the night. If she told Elsa the truth…

But, of course, she wasn't just 'Elsa.'

"Did you say '_Queen Elsa_?'"

The girl looked shyly at her feet. "Yes…I suppose I did," she answered, meek as a mouse.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. 'A queen? She hardly looks old enough to be in college…'

Then, so quietly that Elphaba nearly missed it, Elsa muttered, "A lot of good it does, being queen, when all your subjects want to kill you…"

"What?" It was Elphaba's turn to step back, though this time, it was more from surprise than fear.

Elsa grimaced at her reaction, seeming to think that it was from disgust rather than simple shock.

"I didn't – you weren't – I – I mean –" Elsa struggled to rectify her mistake, but the stuttering only proved to Elphaba that she had heard correctly.

"Why do people want to kill you?" she asked slowly, as though she were speaking to an agitated dog.

Elsa sighed as though giving in to defeat, and gestured with a tired hand to the flurries still taking place outside.

"The snow," Elphaba realized out loud, putting the pieces together: a snowstorm in summer, a strange girl alone in a castle wearing clothes made out of ice.

"You caused this. You…you have magic."

* * *

Elsa waited, barely breathing, for more of a reaction to come. The cries of 'monster!' and the screaming… She was used to it all, after her coronation. But this was different. Here was a young woman appearing mysteriously on her doorstep, _clearly _with several secrets of her own, and she didn't even _recognize _Elsa at first. She already felt the stinging regret that came when another bystander discovered her frosty powers.

'I wish that I _never _had this curse to begin with!' she thought harshly. 'Then maybe I wouldn't _drive everyone away!_'

But nothing came. No cries of terror, no scrambling to escape the icy clutches of the Snow Queen.

Only staring. Elsa squirmed under the appraising gaze of the woman – Elphaba. Her eyes really were two obsidian pits, filled with a writhing dark fire.

Then, ever so slowly, an unfamiliar expression came over Elphaba's face. Was that – a smile? It looked so foreign on sharp, intimidating features, that Elsa couldn't be positive.

"Is that why you're up here, alone? Because you…ran away?" Elphaba asked in her low, calming way.

Elsa could only nod fearfully as another possibility occurred to her. In the time since she'd left everything behind, no one had been able to find her. Elsa had assumed that her own soldiers hadn't come and arrested her yet because they were too scared of her uncontrollable magic, but what if they simply didn't know where she was? Elphaba could _easily _inform the guards of her whereabouts, and then they would come and try to capture her. And Elsa had no doubt that they would succeed. They would march in with their crossbows and spears, and Elsa would be powerless against such force. Either that, or – and it was much to horrible for Elsa to consider – the guards would come, and Elsa would defend herself the only way she knew how: with magic. What if she ended up _killing _someone? No, she'd rather be thrown in Arendelle's prison than become a murderer. But she'd still prefer it if Elphaba _didn't _reveal her location.

Luckily, it didn't seem as though she had any intention to. "What happened?" she questioned, much to Elsa's eternal surprise.

"Haven't you heard?" she said, and hating herself for saying it. "Haven't you heard of me – of _The Snow Queen_?"

She was sure Elphaba had. There wasn't a soul in Arendelle who hadn't. News, especially concerning the royal family, spread _fast. _And Elphaba seemed fairly intelligent. She would realize the danger she was in from simply _talking _to Elsa, and she would leave as swiftly as she had arrived. 'Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut, for once?'

But, once again, to her surprise, Elphaba only looked confused. "No…" she said slowly. "No, I'm afraid I haven't."

"But – all of Arendelle knows the story! How can you not?"

Elphaba's brow wrinkled. "Arendelle?" she asked. "Is that where we are? Arendelle?"

"Well, of course!" Elsa was completely struck. "Of course we're in Arendelle! There's no other land around as far as anyone has ever traveled! There are only mountains, and then the ocean."

"And has anyone ever passed those mountains?" Elphaba asked rather sarcastically.

"Well…no, but they're said to be impassable. They're said to go on so far it seems like forever, in nearly all directions, around Arendelle. I suppose that no one's tried to pass them in over a century. Then there's the ocean, but if you came from one of our trading kingdoms, you would know all about Arendelle."

"_Clearly_," Elphaba muttered disdainfully, with an expression that plainly said, 'Everyone here is an idiot.'

"Elsa," the woman began after a moment. "The land where I come from – it's called 'Oz –' it's less than a day's journey east. Well, at least," she added. "Less than a day's journey if you fly."

"Fly?" Elsa was too confused over this new development – how exactly could one _fly? – _to process the other information that the woman had given, such as the _suddenly existing land of Oz that Arendelle's historians _ought_ to have taught her!_

"Yes, girl, fly," Elphaba snapped. She pointed to the worn-out broomstick in her hand. Before, she had appeared so naturally at ease, holding it, that Elsa hadn't even bothered to wonder of its purpose. "_Magic_," she enunciated, as though talking to a small child, much to Elsa's indignation. "_Broomstick. Fly._"

"Magic?" Elsa decided that she was developing an embarrassing habit of repeating others in one-word strings of dialogue. Or maybe it was just around frightening, cloaked, _green _Elphaba that her voice and wit failed her.

Elphaba stiffened, and opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Elsa continued abruptly. "And if you say, 'Did I say magic?' or pretend to have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll kick you out. And it's already getting late."

"_Fine,_" Elphaba glared at her, as though it was _her _fault she now had to explain what she had been talking about. "If you must know, I did say 'magic.' I suppose now I'll need to tell you a bit about my time in Oz, yes?"

Elsa just stared in expectation, delighted that she wasn't the only magical being in existence.

**A/N: Hopefully, I'll manage to update this pretty regularly. Also, you should know that I do review replies, starting in this chapter. **

**witches always return: Yes, sorry if I wasn't clear enough about that. Elsa's castle **_**is**_** made out of ice. Though you won't get much of that from Elphie's point of view – my theory is that Oz had milder winters and doesn't have quite as much snow and ice as other places, so she doesn't immediately recognize the castle as being ice, but only that it is big, blue, and shiny. Thanks for the review!**

**And you know I love reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

There was nothing but silence for the few moments of hesitance before Elphaba began. "Well, I suppose that it all started – as clichéd is it is – the day of my birth. You see," Elphaba punctuated her words with a wry, self-deprecating grin. "Generally, people aren't born the color of grass. It caused quite a fuss, or so I was told."

Elsa listened with the rapt attention of a child being spun a fairytale.

"My _dearest_ father wasn't particularly… _pleased_, shall we say, to have born such an abnormality. Well, long story short, he was so disgusted that he took some _precautions_ to make sure the same didn't happen to my younger sister. In doing so, my mother was killed, and my Nessa deformed."

All Elsa could think was 'Anna, Anna, Anna.'

She wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if darling, sweet, _innocent_ Anna had inherited her crushingly brutal magic, and with it, more responsibility that one person should have to bear. And assuming that 'Nessa' was the name of Elphaba's sister… Had Anna been born deformed, Elsa might just have gone mad with grief and guilt.

So, in a strange way, she could easily empathize with this near stranger.

"He blamed me for all that happened to her and mother, and I can't say that I don't agree with him. If I had never been born," Elphaba smiled that humorless smile again; the one that gave Elsa chills. "If I had never been born, life would have been so much easier for everyone."

Yes, Elsa could certainly empathize. Not that she would necessarily say so – she was still wary of green people appearing suddenly at her palace door. And, to be quite honest, she was still rather intimidated by such a powerful presence, even if said presence held a very similar backstory to her own.

She was still the Snow Queen; she couldn't forget that. And even if, in a brief (and some would say, foolish) moment of confidence, she pried the word 'magic' from Elphaba's reluctant lips, Elsa was still just as much of a danger to herself and anyone she came in contact with as ever.

Still, Elsa listened. Even if Elphaba's tale was eerily similar to her own, she couldn't _stop _listening. Even if she found herself flinching when Elphaba brought up a particularly disturbing point, she _had_ to keep listening. It was as though her very life – no, _Anna's_ life – hung precariously over a cliff, the fate of which to be determined by how well she listened as Elphaba spoke.

And so, as the green woman relayed her past, starting with her time at college (what an odd name, Shiz was), Elsa could do nothing but nod and soak in every word.

Elphaba's tone, which, before, had been reluctantly amused, verging on bitter, now carried a dramatic lilt that made it seem like she was born to tell this very tale. It made Elsa instinctually lean in closer, eager to catch every word. She was no longer listening for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge of magic, which Elphaba spoke about with casual disdain.

No, she listened because, if there was one natural talent the Snow Queen possessed, other than the obvious, it was the ability to sense a story to be told.

* * *

Elphaba, in some brief bout of arrogance, had pledged herself to telling Elsa her – for lack of a better term – life's story. Looking back, it had been completely foolish, completely rash, and completely unlike her to do so.

After all, hadn't she, moments before, done her very best to keep Elsa from finding out exactly who she was?

Even outside the borders of Oz, she still must have some reputation to the people. And, even if Elsa hadn't recognized her on sight, Lurline only knew that, after hearing how she had – excuse the irony – _defied_ the wizard, Elsa would end up calling the Gale Force. Or, to be optimistic, end up shrieking and running in the opposite direction.

Neither option held much appeal, but they were nearly inevitable. But she had told herself – and Elsa – that she would tell her tale, and she wouldn't back out.

Besides, her entire existence was based on slim-to-none chances, and she had survived thus far, hadn't she?

And her uncanny ability to be stubborn at the worst possible time outweighed her lingering fear of discovery anyway.

So she did begin her story to Elsa, starting at her birth, then jumping past the majority of her childhood and skipping to Shiz and Galinda. However, as she started, it was predetermined that there were some things that she wouldn't say. Fiyero, for one, was a forbidden topic, even in her own mind, and she subconsciously filtered him out of the tale with the ease of someone trying to forget.

The other thing that she would skip over would be the details of the Wizard's corruption, and her subsequent new title.

After all, better not tell Elsa something she would more-than-likely figure out on her own. If and when Elsa _did _discover that she was housing the Wicked Witch of the West, it would be by her own reason, not because Elphaba was generous in her information.

Without thinking about it, she spoke to Elsa about the Lion cub – excluding the involvement of a certain Vinkun prince, of course – and about the general mistreatment of Animals in Oz. She mentioned her letter from the Emerald Palace, though she spoke sparingly about her excitement and, following that, her sense of betrayal. After all, spilling your darkest secrets to a near stranger rarely ended well.

"Wait!"

The startled cry from Elsa halted Elphaba in her storytelling.

"You mentioned a 'Wizard,' right?" Elsa asked, looking for all the world as though she were a child and Lurlinemas had come early.

Elphaba nodded, unsure what about that gave Elsa so much excitement.

"And… And that means that there are more people in your world with magic?"

"Well, yes, I suppose so." Although magic was something of a rarity in Oz, it certainly wasn't unheard of, although… "The Wizard, himself, doesn't truly possess any magical talent. He's something of a fraud, you could say. He uses the appearance of magical talent to gain respect, awe, and total dictatorship."

The last words were twisted with unintentional bitterness, which, judging by the raised eyebrow Elphaba was now receiving, wasn't lost on Elsa.

"So, what happened?" Elsa murmured after a moment, which seemed to be her way of prompting Elphaba to continue with her tale. "I mean, you must have discovered, eventually, that the Wizard was lying about having powers."

Elphaba snorted. "Of course I did. I reached the Emerald City, and received quite a nasty surprise. Well, you can guess what happened next."

She couldn't bring herself to say, 'And thus, the Wicked Witch was born.'

* * *

As a matter of fact, Elsa _didn't_ know what happened next, but it couldn't have been pleasant. It would be impolite – and frankly, rather hypocritical – of Elsa to pry for more information. So she let the subject drop. After all, she was only offering Elphaba lodging for one night, and, in all likelihood, they'd never meet again after the morning, so she didn't feel the need to extract all the little details out of Elphaba.

That didn't mean that she wasn't curious, only that some details rang as true for Elsa as they did for Elphaba, a fact which made her hesitant to push for answers.

'Perhaps,' she mused, and hated herself for it. 'I'm only afraid to hear the answer.'

She could be a coward, sometimes, and she despised that part of herself – the part that was always calling for her to run away to some desolate corner of the world and never face anyone again. It was that part of her that helped her to her current predicament anyways, stowed away in a castle on top of the loneliest, most deserted mountain she could find. It was also that section of her consciousness that made her nod and smile thinly at Elphaba's vague answers. She simply didn't want to face it, and she wasn't sure she would ever be able to.

With another tight-lipped smile, she replied in some distant, appropriately sympathetic manner. All curiosity gone, she simply wanted the green woman _gone_, so she could be left alone once again. This talk was bringing up memories of her past – of _Anna – _that she had hoped to be buried forever. It was so much simpler when she didn't have _other people_ around. On her own, she was collected and _in control_.

But she couldn't go back on her offer to Elphaba; no matter how much she suddenly couldn't face the world, it wouldn't be honorable to turn the woman away so suddenly. There was also the added weight of guilt that Elsa had been attempting to suppress: she still remembered the nasty speckles of red on Elphaba's exposed skin, caused by the very blizzard she had created – and the very blizzard she was too incompetent to control.

So she sighed, but put on a smile, as she had been forced to do so many times during her coronation. "Come," she said, before realizing that it came out more as an order than anything else, and she was still wary of offending Elphaba. "I mean… It's getting late. I've can show you a room to stay for the night."

If her sudden change of demeanor surprised Elphaba – excited to suspicious to bitter to cheerful once again – the woman didn't show it. With a diplomatic nod, she prepared to follow the Snow Queen.

Elsa had taken the first step up her grand staircase when heavy footsteps sounded from outside.

"Open this door, in the name of the Wizard, or we will be forced to open it for you!"

Elsa didn't understand, but Elphaba gasped, and, for the first time since she had arrived, looked truly frightened.

**A/N: Uh… Oops? Yeah, sorry about the wait. And I don't know about you guys, but I think this chapter kind of stinks. I mean, it's basically all just angsty thoughts and backstories, which we all already know. So, sorry about that. On the bright side: SO MANY REVIEWS! Thanks so much, you guys! Six for one chapter!**

**RedApple435: Thank you very much! XD That's my goal!**

**witches always return: Thanks for reviewing twice now, and I guess you'll just have to wait and see!**

**SkySorrow: Thank you very much for your kind, thoughtful review! Yeah, this is Wicked booksical, which I nearly forgot to put in the summary. ;) Thanks!**

**Frostbite: Thank you for the review!**

**artsoccer: Thanks so much! :) I hope you keep reading!**

**Imelda: Thank you for saying that! Haha; characterization it what worries me, so it's nice to hear that.**

**That's all, guys! See you soon, and please review!**


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